Something New, Something Different
by Pchu
Summary: Athrun Zala, age 16, has sworn off the existance of girls. However when he transfers to Orb High, he meets the one girl that causes him to think twice. Can he convince her to have a change of heart as well? [AsuCaga]
1. First Glance

(Chapter has been edited)

A/N: Hey, this is Pchu with another story. Still waiting on the others, huh? Well, keep waiting. But I do have several chapters done already for this fic that will hopefully keep you busy. Er...maybe.

As a side note:

- All the characters are 16...the young one's I mean.

- Characters that died in the series won't appear in this fic unless I need them for something. So, yes Flay is in this fic and so is someone else.

- Yes, there was still a war, but none of the characters were in it. They all just grew up as regular kids.

- Kira and Cagalli know they are siblings and are living together.

I think that's all I should warn you about. Enjoy the fic.

Disclaimer: I absolutely, positively do not own Gundam SEED. How I know? Because I do not know an ounce of Japanese.

* * *

"Good morning, Vice Principal La Flaga." 

"Good morning, kiddo." A man with short, wavy blonde hair greeted the younger man boastfully. "What can I do for you today?"

"Nothing, sir. I am here to see Principal Ramius. Is she here yet?" The student asked.

"She is, but you won't be able to see her now. Are you sure it isn't something I can help you with, er…was the name Yamato?" La Flaga looked down at the boy questioningly.

"Yes, Kira Yamato." He smiled at him.

Kira Yamato was a boy around the age of 16. He had short, shaggy brown hair and amethyst eyes. He was kind and generous, but oftentimes he was considered too much of a softy by his peers. However, aside from his sensitive side, he was well liked around the school and was much of a help to the faculty, especially Principal Ramius. He attends Orb High and receives near top grades, which is good enough by his standards. He lives in the Attha mansion as Orb's Representative Uzumi Nara Attha's adopted son along with his twin sister Cagalli Yula Attha. His sister was adopted long before him, which explains why she carries the Attha name. She too attended Orb High.

"Where is Principal Ramius, by the way?" Kira asked innocently.

"Haven't you gotten the memo? You might as well, it's like you practically work here." La Flaga winked at him. "The Principal's out meeting with a new student."

Kira blinked. Slowly a grin spread across his face. "A new student, huh? Can't wait to meet 'em."

"Well, I'm sure you're more than welcome to make the new student feel right at home, eh?"

"It's my job, isn't it? I mean, who knows more about the school then I do, sir?" Kira asked as he slowly backed away, fastening his backpack around his back.

La Flaga chuckled. "I wouldn't give you all the credit."

Kira joined in the laughter. "So, who's the new student, sir?" He asked just as he was about to walk out of the office.

La Flaga smiled at him briefly before looking down at a list on a piece of paper. "I think the name is Athrun Zala."

"Athrun Zala." Kira said slowly. "I'll remember that."

* * *

Cagalli was sitting in the grass outside in front of Orb High. There was a light breeze causing her blonde fringes to sashay back and forth across her auburn eyes. Her friends surrounded her; they all held her up on a high pedestal. They admired her so much, she was fierce and tough and every boy in the school would give anything to go out with her. The only problem for them was that she wasn't interested in any of them. She wasn't the type of girl that thought the only reason to live was to date the hottest, the most popular, or the most athletic guy in the school. She was the type that didn't trust boys and so she spends her time turning her back to them.

"That's hilarious, Cagalli." A brown haired girl said on Cagalli's right.

"You really think so?" Cagalli asked smiling. She knew how much her friends admired her, but she also knew that they weren't fake like many of the others. They really wanted to be her friends. They really wanted to get to know her as a person. Something she cherished so much about friendship. They weren't people like that Flay Alster who only hung out with the best to be the best. They were real. "Well, just don't tell Kira I told you guys. He would kill me."

"Or break down and cry before the whole school." A red-haired girl said. They all laughed.

"Oh my gosh!" A tall, blonde haired girl said. She was staring off to the side with her mouth gaped opened. "Is that an angel?" She said in a dreamy voice.

Cagalli stared at her stunned. "Sasha, what are you talking about?"

"No, that's not an angel." Her red-haired friend Krystal said. "That's a hunk."

"Who so happens to have blue hair; yeah that just screams out bizarre to me." Leeli stated. She was the friend with reason.

Cagalli raised her eyebrows. She couldn't tell where they were all looking at. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Look." Krystal said pointing her hands in the direction of a boy with shoulder-length blue hair. He was walking and talking with someone. "He's the guy talking with Principal Ramius."

Cagalli spotted him immediately. She gave him a good look over. In her opinion, he wasn't that bad looking. For once, Sasha didn't fall for a mountain troll. She watched him just like her friends did as well. She watched as he chatted with the Principal and smiled at her as well. _He has a nice smile._ Cagalli thought secretly. _However, they all have nice smiles._ She turned her head away from him. She had seen enough.

"Well," She began catching the attention of all her friends. "It won't be long before he has a trail of girls running after him."

"Oh, come on, Cagalli." Sasha spoke up after breaking from her trance. "You can't say that you don't find him attractive. I mean he's hotter than the hottest guys in this school."

"Yet, if you're somehow including my brother in that list then, you don't have much of an argument, do you?" Cagalli smirked at her.

Sasha rolled her eyes in response.

The bell rang in the background signaling for classes to start.

"Bye, Cagalli." The group said to her as they stood up and left.

"Bye." Cagalli said waving at them. She bent over to pick up her stuff. When she stood up to full height she caught another glimpse of the boy she saw earlier. He and the principal were no less than ten feet away from her. Only, this time when she looked at him, he looked back and their eyes met. He looked at her for a split second before turning his gaze to look elsewhere and continue his conversation with the principal. Cagalli shivered. "That felt weird." She mumbled to herself. She took off for her first class of the day.

* * *

"Here's your schedule. I hope you like it here at Orb High." Principal Ramius said kindly to the young man standing in front of her.

"Thank you very much, ma'am." He took the schedule from her and bowed his head before turning to go to his first class.

Athrun Zala was also 16 years old come the previous week. It was his father's birthday present to him: to attend a public school in a mixed community. Athrun had lived in the Plants where the population was 95 coordinators and it was rare to ever see a natural, especially in the type of school system he was in.

Coordinators and Naturals have been living in peace for the past 20 years and are stil trying to create ways to make the peace everlasting. Patrick Zala, Athrun's father and Chairman of PLANTS, mainly did the transfer for political reasons to send his only son to a Coordinator-Natural mixed environment to study. In other words, Athrun's 16th birthday wasn't the sole factor in his decision-making. Either way, Athrun still saw it as an opportunity and was glad to be given the chance for a change in the environment.

To most, Athrun would be considered a very attractive male. He had shoulder-length blue hair and striking emerald-green eyes. He can be stern and stubborn like his father, but like his mother, Athrun had a very kind heart.

"History 1A." Athrun mumbled to himself while reading his schedule. He had history class starting in the next five minutes and he had no idea where to find it. "Room 30C." He looked up and over to the door he was standing next to. His eyebrows rose. "That's room 16A." He looked left and right, up and down the hall. "There's no way that I'll get to class on time." He said gloomily before setting off down the hall.

Athrun broke into a near run as he reached midway. The numbers were rising in value, but as far as he could tell, he was still in the wrong hall. "It said 30C, not 30A." He looked around to see if he could find someone to point him in the right direction, but the hall was completely deserted. He sighed. He really didn't want to show up to his first class late on his first day at the school.

"Need help?"

Athrun turned around. A tall, blonde man was staring down at him smirking. "Er… yes, I'm lost and can't seem to find my class." He said sheepishly.

The man nodded. "Athrun Zala, right? The name's La Flaga, Vice Principal La Flaga." He said boastfully. He reached down and took the schedule from Athrun's hand. "30C, huh? Well, that's simple. Just follow me, okay? No need to worry about being late, I'll take care of that." La Flaga walked off in the direction towards one of the doors that led to a staircase.

Athrun nodded his head bashfully and hurriedly followed him. He made a note of where everything was and perhaps how the room numbering system worked so he wouldn't get lost again.

"Here we are. History 1A, Ms. Talia's class." La Flaga announced before opening the door.

At that instant the bell sounded. Athrun let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, sir."

"Don't mention it." La Flaga grinned down at him. "Hey, Ms. Talia! I got your new student here." He patted Athrun on the back causing him to stumble forward a bit. His hair fell forward onto his face.

Athrun looked up and saw the teacher smiling down at him. He smiled back at her shyly. He could tell that she was a nice teacher. She had short, brown hair and wore red lipstick. The means of which did make her appear a little strict.

"Thank you, Vice Principal." She smiled at La Flaga who returned the gesture and turned to walk out the classroom as well. But before he closed the door, Athrun could have sworn he saw him stop to look at a student for a moment and wink at him. This confused Athrun a bit, but he didn't have time to ponder over it for he had heard Ms. Talia call him to the front.

"Would you like to introduce yourself to your fellow classmates?" She asked kindly.

Athrun nodded and looked around at the many students in his class. They all peered up at him with mild interests, but the ones who seemed most interested were the girls. _Of course._ Athrun sighed to himself. He smiled at them all and opened his mouth to begin. "Hello, my name is Athrun Zala and I am from PLANTS. I like to spend my time reading and I enjoy history very much."

"I'm glad to hear that." Ms. Talia responded. "Well then, I can only find it fitting that I place you next to my top history student." She pointed to a brown haired boy to the left side of the room.

Athrun turned to her and bowed before going to take his seat. He glanced briefly at the boy and saw that he was smiling at him as a sign of greeting. Athrun returned the smile and started taking out his school supplies.

"Okay class, as usual I will begin by summarizing what we last talked about, so I hope you all did your reading last night." A few murmurs erupted throughout the class.

At that instant, a knocking was heard at the door. It opened and a woman with short, dark blue hair poked her head through it. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Ms. Talia, but Principal Ramius would like a word with you."

Ms. Talia sighed. "Okay class, you got lucky this time. While I'm out you all can use the time to do any last minute reading for whatever it is you were unable to get to last night." She walked from behind her desk and headed for the door. "Now, be good." She closed the door behind her.

The class erupted into chatter.

"Whoa, I really lucked out of that one. I haven't read one bit of that chapter." A tanned boy with blonde hair stated. "I really thought I was dead there. Hey Yzak, could you give me a brief of what we were supposed to have read?"

"Tough luck." A boy with shoulder-length silver hair said. "It's your own fault for not reading. I won't help you out this time, Dearka."

"What? Come on!"

"So, you're Athrun Zala?"

Athrun slightly jumped in his seat at the mention of his name. He was busy listening to the conversation between the two boys over not reading the night's lesson. Not that he was trying to listen; they just happened to be close by and were talking a bit too loudly. "Yes, I am." He said to the brown hair guy sitting next to him.

"Funny how we end up in the same class." He continued to smile at Athrun.

Athrun wasn't sure where this kid was coming from. He was sure of one thing though, he had never seen this guy before in his life. So, he found it ironic how this guy was talking to him as if they were old buddies from another school or something.

"My name's Kira Yamato. I usually help out around the school, especially with new students. Strangely, I didn't know you were coming until today."

"Oh." Athrun stated. He felt somewhat dumb that he didn't have much else to say to this guy.

"Hey, would you like to stop by at my house after school today?" Kira asked enthusiastically.

"Er…I don't know." Athrun scratched at the back of his head. This kid's cheerfulness was starting to creep him out a bit. "I don't want to intrude or anything."

"It's no problem at all. Besides, you can use a friend at this school, am I right?"

Athrun stared at him. He was used to being a loner wherever he went. Now he was treading in unfamiliar territory and was lost for words and thought at what to do. _It couldn't hurt, could it?_ He asked himself. He had never really tried to make a real friend in all his years at school. However, Athrun felt that if he was going to make the best of his stay at a community like this, then the least he could do was to actually make a friend.

He smiled at Kira. "Yeah. Sounds good to me."

* * *

A/N: Short huh? Uhm, all my chapters vary in length but none are too short. It may not look like it's heading somewhere, but trust me...it'll get there somehow. 

Please R&R and I thank you in advance.


	2. Rough Start

A/N: Sorry, I would have updated sooner but would not allow me to upload this chapter into my documents for the longest time for some reason. Well, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Sorry if the story seems a little slow. Not to mention sorry for not sounding too enthusiastic. A fire just broke out in our kitchen some hours ago so I'm just...I don't know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED/Destiny. If I did then I wouldn't be asking for advice with my fanfiction rather than the actual series itself.

* * *

The bell sounded dismissing all students from their first period class.

"This day is just full of coincidences isn't it?" Kira smiled walking out of the classroom.

Athrun trailed behind him not trying to pay much attention to where he was going or what Kira was saying.

"Athrun?" Kira called.

"Er…sorry. I'm just trying to see if I can find my way to my next class." Athrun said apologetically.

Kira smiled at him in understanding. "It takes awhile to get used to it. I remember getting lost on the way to the bathroom on my first day." He laughed. It really was a funny situation to think about. Kira could remember having to excuse himself from class to use the bathroom and showing up forty-five minutes later claiming how he got lost along the way. Then having the teacher stating that the bathroom was located two doors down to the right. "I'll explain that one later." He said sheepishly to the look he was receiving from Athrun.

Athrun smiled. "You don't really have to tell me, you know." As strange as it might seem, he was actually starting to warm up to Kira. He was a bit quirky in his opinion, but he really meant well. "Well, I should be off. I need to get to room…" He looked down at his schedule for reference again. "16A, wait-a-minute, I was just there." He sighed.

"Don't worry. I'll take you there. It's my job after all to show the new students around."

Athrun looked up to see Kira smiling at him. He nodded in thanks.

"Hey! Will you two move it or lose it!" A voice shouted from behind.

Athrun turned around to see the silver-haired boy from earlier.

"Yeah, we have classes to get to, you know." Said the blonde hair boy who didn't read his assignment last night.

"It wouldn't hurt you guys to say please." Athrun heard Kira say.

"Stuff it, Yamato. I don't have time to listen to your welcoming lectures. Save those for the recruits." The silver-haired boy said while throwing an inferior look towards Athrun.

Athrun felt taken aback by that gesture and narrowed his eyes at him. He didn't want to start trouble on his first day, but this guy was starting to get under his skin.

"Could you guys just leave now?" Kira said irritably.

"I'll leave when I feel like it, Yamato."

"Kira. My name is Kira. What's with the formality? What is this, military school?" Kira taunted back.

The previous boy snarled at him. "I don't have time to play petty games with you." He looked at Athrun with his piercing eyes and furrowed his brows. "Don't think I don't know who you are, Zala. You're the Chairman's son, am I right?"

Athrun's eyes widened from shock. He hadn't expect anyone from earth to know who he was, let alone know that the Chairman of PLANT had a son. _Zala._ He mentally smacked himself. Of course people would figure out from his last name.

"You're the son of the Chairman? Of PLANT?" Kira asked astonished.

_Never mind._ "Yes, I am." Athrun stated without taking his eyes off the boy standing before him. "Am I supposed to know who you are?"

He could clearly see a vein popping in the boy's head. "Of course you should. We're both from PLANT you ingrain." He snarled.

The blonde haired boy laughed. "People as important as him wouldn't dare to recognize people like us, Yzak."

Athrun opened his mouth to say something, but then quickly closed it. He felt a bit offended from that remark. However, his time in the public eye taught him to just accept criticism and move on.

"Look, my name is Dearka Elsman and this hothead here is Yzak Joule. I'm sure he was looking for some appraised recognition or something. He thinks himself high and mighty. You needn't worry though; his bark is worst than his bite." Dearka smirked.

"Shut it!" Yzak shouted while jabbing his elbow into Dearka's ribcage causing him to double over a bit in pain.

"That was un-call for, man." He breathed out.

Athrun stood for a minute unsure of what to do and looked to his side at Kira.

"They're always like that." He muttered to him. "You'll get used to it."

Athrun looked around to all three of them. Not one of them being anything like the other and then it just dawned on him. "Do you hang out with these guys?" Athrun asked disbelievingly. He couldn't see a person like Kira hanging out with someone like Yzak.

Kira shrugged. "Occasionally. Nothing wrong with that."

"Do you think we're low or something, Zala?" Yzak piped up.

Athrun shook his head. "No. No. It's just…never mind." He looked from Yzak and Dearka remembering what they said earlier. "Elsman and Joule, huh? I heard those names before. Your parents must be on the high council, right?"

"Took you long enough to follow."

"Now Yzak, I'm sure Athrun has never seen you before so how could he have known?" Kira asked rolling his eyes.

Yzak scoffed at him and Dearka smirked again, for reasons unknown to Athrun for he didn't find anything funny for the time being.

"Er…look, I don't want to be rude, but I really need to find my class." Athrun said suddenly.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Sorry, I forgot." Kira looked down at his watch. "Man, and class starts in two minutes too."

"What!" Yzak shouted. He pushed pass Kira and Athrun. "You're dead, Yamato, if I end up late for class!" He called back.

"Ignore him." Dearka stated just as he passed by them to follow.

"Come on." Kira stated as he rushed off down the hall and to the stairway. "As I was saying earlier before we got interrupted, I find it ironic how we end up partnered on the yearly project."

"Yeah, if you say so." Athrun huffed as he rushed to keep up with Kira while running down the stairs.

"Well, you're already coming to my house after, right? So it will only be right to start on it then."

"Yeah, sure." Athrun said just as they made it to the first floor and into the hall. "I think I can find my way from here." He breathed while trying to catch his breath.

"Suit yourself." Kira said. "My class is the other way. I'm not sure if I have any more classes with you, but I won't see you for lunch. I'm usually spending my time with the staff. I'll meet you at the front gate at the end of last class, 'kay?" He shouted over the voices of other students the further and further he went from Athrun.

"See you!" Athrun called as he raced down the hall to beat the bell to his next class.

* * *

It was midday and that usually meant lunchtime at Orb High. Cagalli and her friends were sitting in their usual spot on the grounds. They were all engaged in conversation about how the day went. As usual, Leeli wanted to start a conversation about the ratification of the library's catalog system.

"I mean, why use numbers? Who, in their right mind has the time to remember a whole list of numbers just for one stupid book that they need for probably only five minutes out of the day. Would it hurt them to use letters? I don't know, put them in alphabetical order?"

"Leeli, haven't we been through this already? There's nothing wrong with the catalog system. You just want to make it harder for everyone else, that's all." Krystal rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I wonder why we even hang out with you sometimes."

"Easy." Cagalli said. "She's the brain of the operations, remember? I wouldn't have been able to pass chemistry without her help."

"And you still owe me for it, Cagalli." Leeli added.

Cagalli smiled. "I'm getting to that."

At that minute, music started playing. This was a usual routine seeing as someone always brought their cd player to school and would blast the music at lunch.

"Oh, I love this song." Cagalli exclaimed. She stood up and began to dance to the song.

Sasha joined in the dancing.

"Must we go through this every lunch period?" Leeli asked exhaustedly. "It makes me feel somewhat…"

"Left out?" Krystal finished for her. "Hey, we already said we didn't mind that you don't like to dance." Krystal smiled at her and sat back a bit to enjoy the show before her.

Cagalli and Sasha were mostly running around in circles rather than dancing. At times they would start jumping up and down or hold on to each other's hands and twirl around.

"Here it comes." Krystal said. "The big finale."

At the end of every dance, Cagalli and Sasha would spin around holding on to each other until they let go. They would both fall over backwards onto the grass and laugh it out like they always do. However, that wasn't the case this time. Sasha let go too soon and Cagalli stumbled over backwards. She tried to catch her balance, but she tripped over her own backpack that was lying on the ground. Unfortunately for her, the spot they always choose to sit was on top of a hill.

"Ah!" Cagalli screamed as she tumbled over and fell down the hill.

"Cagalli!" Her friends screamed in terror. She was about to hit the pavement.

Cagalli had her eyes closed to protect them, but she didn't know where or what she was heading for. She couldn't stop herself completely and just allowed herself to continue to tumble. Yet, when she took that last tumble, she felt something soft. _That's odd._ She thought. _I know grass doesn't normally feel this soft._

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up. She gasped. She was staring into the eyes of the same boy she had seen earlier. This time, from close up, Cagalli could see how handsome he really was, mostly because his emerald green eyes accented his features. She blushed. Looking down, she realized that he was holding on to her. Instantly, her mind began racing. She didn't care how cute he was, or even if he helped her, he was doing something that was forbidden by all guys as far as she knew. He was touching her.

"Hey!" Cagalli shouted as she pushed him over. She fell to her knees. "Don't touch me!" She yelled at him angrily.

The boy looked at her confused. "What did I do?" He asked her.

Cagalli blushed again. She had to admit, she did overreact a bit, but she didn't want to lower her guard, especially not when half the people out at lunch were now staring at them.

She stood up and brushed herself of the grass that was clinging to her body. "Look, I'll let you off this time." She said slowly. "But, next time, don't do it again." She glared at him to back up what she said and left him on the ground stunned.

"Cagalli, I can't believe you just did that!" Krystal said amazed.

"Look at it this way," Cagalli began. "At least I didn't slap him; however, next time I will." She looked back to the boy, but he was gone. This stunned her for a minute. She didn't think she had embarrassed him that badly that he would up and flee. She just shrugged it off.

Leeli was standing before Cagalli shaking her head. "And to a hunk like that, Cagalli I'm surprised at you."

"Oh, shut up. You didn't find him attractive, you said so yourself." Cagalli glared at her as well.

"I only commented on his blue hair." Leeli shrugged. "That doesn't keep me from thinking he's a hunk." She winked at her and began walking off as the bell rang for lunch to end.

Cagalli rolled her eyes and followed them.

* * *

"Cagalli, what happened to you?" Kira asked when he walked into his sister on the way to class.

"Nothing, just fell in grass. Don't even bother asking." Cagalli said exhaustedly.

"Wasn't going to." Kira smirked at her. "Hey, when are you going to be home today?"

Cagalli shrugged at him. "Not sure, why?"

"Oh, I'm having a friend come over and I wanted you to meet him." Kira said plainly.

Cagalli narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms against her chest. "Kira, if you're trying to hook me up with another one of your dead-beat friends…"

"It's nothing like that!" Kira interjected. "Besides, that was only one time. Could you just forget about it? This friend of mine is new and I would like him to meet my sister. Is that so hard to ask?" He said with a pleading tone.

She closed her eyes in disbelief. It may have been only once, but she remembered vividly the last time Kira tried to set her up with one of his friends. It was a complete disaster. The guy practically drool all over her and after going out on one date, he practically stocked her and claimed her to as his wife-to-be. She had to call the guards when she found him sleeping outside in the bushes beneath her bedroom window. So, he couldn't blame her for not taking his word for it when he said that he wasn't going to try it again. He had been hinting at it several times a month that she should date one of his friends, even Yzak at one point. She had to gag.

"Look, Kira, I have plans with my friends after school. I have no idea when I'm getting back, but I'll try my best to show up as early as possible." She said regretfully.

"Well, we have a project to brainstorm on anyway, so I'm sure it won't be a short stay." Kira said smiling widely. "I'm sure you'll like him. He's really nice."

"Kira!" Cagalli shouted.

"I was talking about as a friend, Cagalli. What kind of brother do you think I am?" He smirked.

"A lousy one." She huffed.

"Whatever, Cagalli, I got to go. See you when you get home." He walked off waving and smiling at her mischievously.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Yamato!" Cagalli bellowed as she watched him leave. She didn't trust him one bit, but she gave in either way. He was her brother and she knew he meant well. In fact, he and her father often meant well, but it would be better if they just didn't interfere with her love life. _What love life?_

Cagalli continued to walk on ahead to get to her next class when she saw him: blue hair and emerald-green eyes. She saw him flash a glance at her and then hurried along to who knows where. Cagalli felt stunned. _I must have really hurt him emotionally._ She thought as she remembered when she pushed him over and yelled at him. It was only his first day there. She should have probably cut him some slack.

She shrugged. _Oh well, can't change the past._ She thought bitterly as she entered her classroom. _I doubt I'll be seeing him again anytime soon.

* * *

_

A/N: Well that's that. Actually I don't really remember what's in this chapter...kidding. I remember it slightly. Hope you enjoyed it and please take the time to R&R. I rather know about people's opinions than rather they just read it and move on. 


	3. Surprise Reunion

A/N: Hey, back with another chapter. Someone had said something about Kira and Cagalli having different last names in this fic...well I'll probably have it explained in another chapter in the future. I'll let you know when. Uhm...the story is still going along slow, but I believe I still like the way it's heading. Hope you all enjoy it yourselves and thanks to all the do R&R.

* * *

"Thanks for inviting me to your house." Athrun said kindly to Kira.

"It's no problem at all. I'm just trying to make a new friend, really." Kira smiled bashfully and rubbed the back of his head. "So, how was your first day at Orb High so far?"

Athrun frowned a bit at the thought of it. He started to look at the scenery as they walked passed it towards Kira's house. His mind drifted off to earlier that afternoon to that girl he saw. He remembered when he had first seen her. He had only taken a glance at her. She didn't seem like anyone special. He figured that since she was staring at him, she would soon be like all the rest of them: a member of his fan club that seemed to travel along with him. However, he knew he was wrong to think that after what had happened at lunch. He was only trying to do what was right when he stopped her from hitting the pavement. As usual, he expected her to just look up at him and start appraising him for his rescue like any other girl would, but what caught him off guard was the fact that she pushed him. She even yelled at him as if he had done something to hurt her. He remembered the feeling he had when it happened: shocked. It really shocked him that there was a girl in the world who could look at him and treat him as if he was just something there, nothing special. It felt…_different_.

"Athrun?" Kira called out Athrun's name for the second time. He was concerned that something terrible must have happened to him at school. "Did something bad happen? You didn't get detention on the first day did you?"

"What? No." Athrun pulled out of his reverie. "Nothing like that happened, no." He shook his head slowly. "In fact, I met someone today."

"Really, who? Maybe I know 'em." Kira smiled at the fact that Athrun was already starting to meet new people.

"Well, I wouldn't call it a nice meeting. She fell down a hill and I caught her and she…" He shrugged. "She pushed me and yelled at me."

Athrun turned to look at Kira in time to catch his face falter.

"By any chance, did this girl have blonde hair?" Kira asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, why?" Athrun asked slowly. "Do you know her?"

Kira sighed. "Sadly, yes. That girl who pushed you was Cagalli."

"Cagalli." Athrun repeated her name. He wanted to know what it would feel like to hear the name coming out of his mouth. It seemed to have a nice ring to it.

"She's my sister."

Athrun jerked his head in Kira's direction. "Really? You two seem nothing alike."

"I know." Kira sighed again.

"You two look nothing alike also." Athrun stated plainly.

"I know." Kira said deeply. "Strange though, considering she's my twin sister." He shrugged it off. "Sorry you got off to a rough start with her."

Athrun frowned slightly.

Kira patted him on the back in comfort. "Don't worry about it. She's like that to every guy in school. She just doesn't like the attention, I guess. Ah, well we're here."

Athrun nodded his head slightly in understanding. _I guess I can relate to that._ When Kira announced that they were at his house, Athrun's jaw nearly dropped at what he saw. "Kira, you never said you lived at a mansion."

Kira grinned. "Well, I kind of wanted to leave that part out. Besides, I'm sure this isn't the largest house you ever seen."

"No. It isn't." Of course, Athrun was referring to his own home back in Plants. His house was twice in size, but he hadn't expected to find a house at least half the size here in Orb or to even meet the very person who lived in such a home. "Are your parents rich or something?"

Kira laughed lightly. "I guess you can say that. Let's just say that my father is a very important person, okay?" He gestured for Athrun to follow him inside. A maid bowed her head at them and took their jackets from them to hang. "Er…I guess we can go to my room and start on the project, is that okay?"

"Fine with me." Athrun offhandedly stated for he was busy looking at the structures of the house.

"Excellent." Kira exclaimed as he began ascending the stairs. "Any ideas what to do, by the way?" He called to Athrun.

Athrun's mind began racing. The teacher didn't give them much to follow by on the criteria. He shrugged, though he knew Kira couldn't see him. "I'm not sure. Maybe some kind of illustration of some important event that happened in Orb." He mumbled.

Kira stopped at the landing on the second floor. "You mean like a model?"

Athrun nodded his head. "Yeah, a model of the land and buildings and people." He continued to follow Kira down the hall. He looked from left to right at the numerous rooms they kept passing by. "Though, it really depends on what we choose the model to be about."

"How about the peace treaty?" Kira suggested as he stopped in front of a door.

Athrun paused to look inside the room just as Kira opened the door. The room seemed pretty simple for it to be in a mansion. It was spacious and contained many neutral colors. Athrun slowly walked in after Kira and placed his books on a desk. He looked at the desk curiously. It was stacked with papers, but when he looked closer at it, it didn't seemed to be schoolwork papers.

"Athrun?" Kira spoke up from beside his bed. "Do you agree to do the peace treaty?"

"Oh, sure. That should give us plenty to do." He nodded off as he stepped away from the desk. "We can use a lot of symbolism in the model."

"It'll also give us plenty to write about." Kira sighed. "Ms. Talia was over exaggerating a bit when she called me her best student. History gives me a bit of a headache." He began rubbing at his temple.

"Well, we have plenty of time to do this project. After all, it's not due until near the end of the school year, so no need to stress about it." Athrun said lamely while studying Kira. He grabbed a chair that was next to the desk and sat on it.

"You say that now. You do realize that not only do we need to figure out what to do and what it will be about, which we already done, but we still need to write about the technique behind the creation, the different qualities it possesses that best represents the event we chosen, not to mention that we also need to write a twenty page report on the event." Kira sighed again. This time he fell backwards onto his bed.

Athrun sat in silence for a while. It really was a lot they had to do. However, he felt that it wasn't impossible to do it. He watched as Kira lay down on his bed letting out a sigh of frustration. He smirked. "Well, I guess we should get started on it now then."

Kira threw a pillow at him.

* * *

"Tell me again why you're leaving us so soon?" Sasha pouted as she cornered Cagalli in the corner of the clothing store.

"Sorry you guys, but Kira really wants me to get home early to meet this new friend of his." Cagalli said nervously. She knew her friends weren't really going to try and do anything to her, but sometimes they did scare her…a little.

"Well then, can we come?" Sasha pleaded.

"No way!" Cagalli exclaimed. "You only want to come so you can drool over my brother. Gross!"

Leeli and Krystal laughed in the background. They usually always stood to the side observing Cagalli and Sasha together. They often said they were better to watch than stand-up comedians.

"Come on Sasha, just let her go." Krystal tried to reason. "She did made a promise to her brother."

"She also made a promise to spend the day with us." Leeli added airily.

"You're not helping." Krystal retorted.

"You're both not helping." Cagalli concluded. "Look, I would have loved to hang out with you guys for the rest of the night, but my brother had to pick today to invite someone over to the house. Now I must go and be the house greeter."

Sasha giggled. "Well, don't fret. He just want to show you off to all the guys, you know."

Cagalli rolled her eyes. "That's what I'm afraid of. I'm tired of him always trying to hook me up with someone."

"Are you kidding?" Krystal said exasperatedly. "I would love to have a brother to introduce me to guys." She smirked at her mischievously. "Hmm, what if you had already met this guy?"

"What are you talking about Krystal?" Cagalli sighed.

"That blue-haired hunk." She said dreamily. "Your brother said he was new to the school, right? Well, who else could be more new than him?"

Cagalli went slightly pale. Was it him? She didn't dare to think it. She had completely humiliated him and now he would have the chance to do the same to her in her own home. _How could Kira do this to me?_ She wondered. She looked up to her friends who were all still looking at her.

"Er…well, I guess it's possible, but we'll just have to wait and see." She shrugged. "Look, it was nice hanging with you guys today, but now I got to go." She bolted out of the store and ran to get home.

* * *

"I don't think I can look at another book today." Kira said while slumping on the counter in the kitchen. "Soda?"

"Sure." Athrun reached out for a can and opened it. "So, aside from our research on the Peace Treaty between the three major powers what will our model be like?"

Kira took his time to answer, as he was busy sipping from his can. He shrugged. "I figure we might as well do a model of either the building where the treaty was signed or the location where they first introduced the treaty to the public. Your pick."

Athrun nodded. "I'll go with the latter." He looked to the rear of the kitchen and noticed a door that leads to the outside. He figured that it was the backyard, but it was hard to tell what was out there because the landscape was blocked from view. "It's getting late." He said.

Kira looked down at his watch. "Where is she?"

"Who?" Athrun asked.

"Cagalli, remember? I asked her to show up early so she can meet you."

Athrun looked away. He was hoping not to run into his sister at their house. He still hadn't fully gotten over what had happened earlier that day. "Uh, I don't know Kira. Your sister made it absolutely clear that she doesn't like me."

"None sense. It was just an accident. She'll like you. Trust me." Kira said beaming.

Athrun raised an eyebrow at him. There was something about that smile that was a bit too eerie.

"Kira!" The sound of a door being slammed shut indicated that Cagalli had finally arrived. "Kira, I'm home!" She called again.

"In here!" Kira answered. He could hear her footsteps lead into the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. The girls wanted to hang out on the far side of time and…YOU!" Cagalli had just walked into the kitchen and stood with a shocked expression on her face at the entrance.

"Yes, him." Kira said while placing his hand on Athrun's shoulder. "Cagalli, this is Athrun. I think you two have met before. He's the guy you pushed over at lunch today." He grinned at her.

Cagalli stared at Athrun opened mouth. Somehow she knew, but she just couldn't fully come to the fact that it was actually him that Kira had mentioned earlier. _Note to self: Kill Krystal._

"Hello." Athrun said sheepishly without looking at Cagalli.

Cagalli didn't respond. She had finally closed her mouth, but she was staring at Athrun as if she was trying to study his every move.

"Cagalli, it's rude to stare at people. Not to mention it's rude not to show a bit of hospitality." Kira said trying to urge her to say something to Athrun.

Cagalli rolled her eyes at Kira and walked forward towards Athrun. She stuck her hand out as a greeting. "Cagalli. Kira's sister, though I'm sure he already explained all you needed to know."

Athrun looked down at the hand and took it in his. At first contact he felt a jolt of emotions course through his body. He quickly released her hand. "Yeah, he did." He said quietly. He looked up into her eyes and quickly became lost in them. They were golden and fierce. Just one look in them was able to captivate him.

Cagalli felt a bit uneasy under his gaze. She looked over to Kira and glared at him. "I won't fall for your trick this time." She told him.

"For the last time, it has nothing to do with that." Kira said while rolling his eyes.

Cagalli did the same in response and looked back to Athrun. She sneered at him and walked out of the kitchen. "Whatever. I have homework to do."

"Well, that went well." Kira said. He looked over to Athrun and noticed he was staring off at the staircase. "Is something wrong? You know, you seem to blank out a lot of times."

"Uh, what? Sorry." Athrun said after regaining his reverie. "What was that all about, by the way?"

"Er…" Kira looked at him shyly as he took his seat at the table and began drinking from his can again. "Nothing. Something about introducing her to people she doesn't want to be introduced to." He shrugged.

Athrun glared at him. "I told you it wasn't a good idea to introduce us."

Kira smiled at him meekly and continued with his soda. "It's late."

"And I need to get home." Athrun finished.

"No need." Kira said. "Stay here. It's the least I can do."

Athrun hesitated for a moment. "I don't know, Kira." His eyes trailed up the stairs that Cagalli had went up a moment ago.

"It's best if you stay the night. It's not safe to wonder out there on your own at this time of night." Kira said patting him on the back.

Athrun nodded in defeat. "Fine. I'll stay."

* * *

A/N: Okay, end of chapter 3. And I just remembered something. Someone left me a review that said I was moving the plot along too slowly, well sorry, I won't make it go any faster. If I did, then I would just screw up the story. Not that I still won't probably. But, heh...

Please R&R


	4. Ironic Dream

A/N: Hello again. Long time no see. Actually I purposely delayed updating this story. I just didn't want to make a habit out of updating so quickly because then I would actually have to live up to it. Hmm...now that I look at the chapter, since I haven't for weeks, I wonder if giving Cagalli that dream at this time was really a good thing. Ah, well. I still have time to think it over.

Okay, I may sound ignorant about it, but I just want to be able to get this off my chest. Not to mention that my mouth is swollen from being at the dentist and from time to time my mother is pretty much getting on my nerves.

Aside from that, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

_

* * *

_

_Cagalli walked through a field of white roses. She was wearing a lavender gown that hugged her waist and flowed around her ankles. The sun shown brightly far above her and reflected off her golden hair. She stopped. _

"_Where am I?" She asked herself as she took in her surroundings. The field went on and on as far as she could see. "What is this place?" She asked to the air around her._

_A rustling sound came from behind her. She spun around. No one was in site. She heard another one coming from the opposite direction. She turned around quickly and saw a shadow swift pass her. "Hey wait!" She called out to it._

_She looked down at herself, at the dress she was wearing and cursed. "I can't believe this." She lifted up her dress and ran after the figure. She ran and ran as fast as she could in her heels. Everything was like a blur of white to her. She just kept looking forward at the running figure until she tripped._

_Cagalli fell down and down a large hill of roses until there was no hill left to fall down on. She slowly lifted herself up and pushed her messy hair out of her face. She gasped. There were trees that stood higher than the tallest building and rows of bushes filled with even more white roses and beyond that was an ocean. It stretched outward even farther than the field and its crystal-blue water glistened under the sunlight. _

_Cagalli stood up on her feet. She slowly walked towards the water. It felt as if it was calling to her. As she got closer, she heard another rustle to her left. She stopped and turned. She didn't see anyone, but she kept moving forward anyway. There was a huge tree standing in her path, but somehow she knew there was someone waiting on the other side. She slowly edged around the tree until she saw someone, she saw him. _

_A young man, around the same age as Cagalli, was sitting with his back against the tree. His blue fringes overcast his face. He looked as if he was sitting there for ages and didn't give any notice to Cagalli's presence. Cagalli knelt down to get a closer look at him, but it was hard to tell who he was with all the hair covering his face. She reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, is something wrong?" She asked._

_The boy slowly turned his head and looked up at her. His green eyes looked at her sadly. Cagalli drew back from him and gasped. "Athrun?"_

_Athrun's hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her towards him and drew his face in closer. Cagalli's eyes spread opened. She had no clue what was happening, but something kept telling her to allow it to happen. **It's okay. It's what should happen. **The voice kept telling her. She allowed herself to close her eyes and waited for the kiss._

_Ring._

Cagalli scrunched her eyes. _Where is that ringing coming from?_

_Ring._

Cagalli groaned. "Go away." She muttered.

_Ring._

Cagalli's eyes shot opened. She was looking at the ceiling. For a moment she felt confused about where she was. She rubbed her eyes and opened them again. She looked over to her right and then to her left. She was in her room.

_Ring._

"Ugh! Stupid alarm clock!" She yelled before sitting up and turning to knock her alarm clock over. She sighed in triumph.

_Ring._

"What the-!" She looked over at her bedside table. Her cell phone was blinking on and off. She grumbled. Cagalli reached over for her cell and pressed the talk button. "Hello?" She said grumpily.

"Cagalli!"

She winced. "What on earth are you doing calling me at such a time like this, Krystal!" She yelled.

"To make sure you don't over sleep for school again." She heard her reply over the phone.

Cagalli rolled her eyes. "You know good well you don't ever call me for that. What's the real reason?"

"Okay, okay, you found me out. So, who was it?"

"Who was who?" Cagalli asked sounding puzzled.

"The guy your brother invited over yesterday. Sheesh Cagalli, get with the program."

Cagalli sighed over the phone and closed her eyes. _It was a dream._ She told herself. She was just reminded of the fact that Athrun was over yesterday and what freaked her out the most was that she had just dreamt about him. It made her shudder. "That new kid." She replied disdainfully.

"The hunk with the blue hair?" Cagalli removed the phone from her ear at that moment because she heard her friend squeal over the phone. "I knew your brother would come through!"

"Yeah, whatever." Cagalli mumbled. "Couldn't you have just waited until school started to ask me something like this?"

"So, what's his name?" Krystal asked, ignoring Cagalli's plea.

Cagalli groaned. "His name is Athrun."

"Athrun, huh? The name suits him."

"Big deal now let me get to sleep!" Cagalli said before turning off her phone. She threw it back on the table and fell back on her pillow. She sighed.

_Ring._

"Argh!" Cagalli got up and reached over for her phone. However, this time it wasn't ringing. She looked down to her alarm clock on the floor and saw it shaking. She stood up and picked it up before throwing it at the wall.

"You did not just break another alarm clock, did you?" She heard Kira shouting from another room.

"Shut up!" Cagalli replied before storming off to the bathroom.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Athrun yawned and stretched as he entered the kitchen.

"Oh that? Cagalli just hates getting up in the morning." Kira replied while chewing his food. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"You say that as if I'm actually going to live here." Athrun replied with a look of amazement on his face.

Kira paused for a moment and grinned at him. "You never know. You're always welcomed to stay here."

"No thanks. I have my own place, remember?" Athrun said as a servant placed his plate of breakfast in front of him. "Thanks." He mumbled. "Besides, I find it odd that you allowed me stay over in the first place. You hardly know me."

Kira shrugged. "It was out of courtesy. It was my fault for having you stay here too late in the first place."

"I wouldn't have mind." Athrun said.

Kira waved his hand in the air. "Don't worry about it. We're used to having people staying over suddenly."

Athrun paused from eating to look through the entryway of the kitchen. "Really? Like who?"

"Important people." Kira said nonchalantly. "So, what are your plans for today?" He asked suddenly.

Athrun looked at him for a moment as if he was the craziest person on earth. "I was hoping that I would attend classes today, if that's what you mean?"

Kira chuckled. "Of course you're going to attend classes. I meant are you planning on meeting any new people today?"

"Oh." Athrun said after realization hit him. "Well, I never really planned on making actual friends when I decided to come here."

"Well, you're going to have to add it to your plans if you want me to be your friend." Kira said laughing. "I hope you're going to include girls in your plans as well."

Athrun raised an eyebrow. "Girls?"

"Yeah, you know, dating? You can't live life without trying to find that special someone in your life, right?" Kira said with a bit more of seriousness to his voice.

Athrun gulped. That wasn't a question he was expecting to be asked. Truth be told, he really wasn't looking for a relationship. It was what got him in trouble in the first place. He was really hoping to come to Orb in order to avoid all that. Well, the mob of girls he could never get rid of, but at least he could try and protect his heart. "I don't think so, Kira."

Kira sighed. "Oh well. So, planning on getting more involved with the school environment instead?"

"Getting involved? Such as?"

"You know, clubs, dances, sports, you name it. Why not? I'm sure you'll make a great basketball player, or why not try out for soccer?" Kira was absolutely gleaming at this point.

"Er…I'll think about it." Athrun said as he poked his scrambled eggs with his fork and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Yeah, definitely give it some thought." Kira said after awhile.

"Kira, the next time you buy me an alarm clock for my birthday I'll…" Cagalli stopped in her tracks as she suddenly entered the kitchen.

Kira looked up at Cagalli expectantly, while Athrun lowered his head so he wouldn't have to look her in the face.

Cagalli's face went pale the instant she saw Athrun sitting in the kitchen. In a flash that last scene in her dream came to her and her face went red. "What is he doing here?" She demanded.

"Eating breakfast." Kira answered plainly.

"I can see that!" She snapped. "What is he doing here in our kitchen at such an early time of the day eating our food?" Her voice rose higher with every passing word.

"Well, we can't just let him starve can we? He is our guest after all." Kira continued on as if he saw nothing wrong with the situation or what was just about to happen in that kitchen.

"Kira! What is he doing here, in our kitchen, now?" Cagalli bellowed.

Kira sighed. He looked at Athrun who still had his head down staring at his plate and then he looked up to Cagalli. "He spent the night, okay? I couldn't let him go home by himself in the dark."

Cagalli's eyes widened. She looked over at Athrun with threatening eyes. Her fists clenched and unclenched. "You mean to tell me that he stayed here, in the same building as me at night!"

"Is there something wrong with that?" Kira said smiling.

Cagalli was fuming. It was one thing to come home and find the very same boy she pushed over the day before sitting in her kitchen, but it was another to find him still there the next morning only to find out that he spent the night without her knowing. It just felt so…unjust to her. "Argh!" She screamed before storming out the kitchen.

Athrun and Kira stayed silent for a while as they listened to her stomp her feet up the stairs.

"That's her way of giving up." Kira said triumphantly.

Athrun finally looked up from his food. He looked at Kira in shock and then he shook his head in defeat. He could only guess it was a sibling thing. "I told you it wasn't wise for me to spend the night."

Kira scoffed. "Don't worry, she's only pissing about the possibility of you seeing her in her girly pajamas. Mind you, she doesn't like to be associated with the word girly or anything that comes with it." Kira laughed.

Athrun raised his eyebrow at him. "I think you two will be the death of me."

"Too bad, 'cuz you're stuck with us now." Kira smiled.

A few minutes later, Cagalli re-entered the kitchen again with all her school things with her. She glared at Kira and huffed without saying a word to him. She walked over to the table and reached over towards Athrun's plate. She took the toast off his plate and stuffed it in her mouth. "That's mine by the way." She said and then turned to leave for school.

Kira grinned. "One day and she's already warming up to you."

"Can you see no wrong?" Athrun said as he stood up from the table to get his school supplies as well. He had a feeling that being in the presence of Cagalli wasn't going to do him any good at all. The girl was downright frightening and he wasn't afraid to admit it. Though there was one thing he wasn't going to admit. No matter how scary, threatening, and intimidating she was, he found the fierceness in her eyes that hid behind her blonde fringes to be quite attractive.

"You coming?" Kira called to him from the door.

"Yeah." Athrun replied after snapping from his reverie. "But I don't think I'll be following you home any more."

Kira laughed on the way out the door.

* * *

A/N: Well I hope that was well enough. You know I hate cliff-hangers, but I think I'm leaving these stories off in incompleteness.

Well, please R&R while I go off and watch Underworld with my mom.


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